Dell Research: Digital Start-ups, A Threat To 78% Of Businesses

With start-up organisation going digital, many organisations today feel threatened that they might become relegated, if not obsolete in the near future. This is the result of a research finding conducted by Dell Technologies.

According to the findings, 78% of businesses believe digital start-ups will pose a threat to their organization, either now or in the future. Almost half (45%) of global businesses surveyed fear they may become obsolete in the next three to five years due to competition from digital-born start-ups.
This phenomenon is propelling innovative companies forward and accelerating the demise of others.

According to the research finding, more than half (52%) of business leaders have experienced significant disruption in their industries over the past three years as a result of digital technologies and the Internet of Everything (IoE), and 48% of global businesses don’t know what their industry will look like in three years’ time.

Additionally the report states that about a quarter of businesses are partnering with start-ups to adopt an open innovation model (35%); also 28% have spun-off a separate part of the organization or intend to acquire the skills and innovation they need through M&A. Just 17% measure success according to the number of patents they file and nearly half (46%) are integrating digital goals into all department and staff objectives.

The finding is result from an independent survey by Vanson Bourne of 4,000 business leaders from mid-size to large enterprises across 16 countries and 12 industries.

“So far the fourth industrial revolution has proved as ruthless as its predecessors. If companies cannot keep up, they will fall behind, or worse. The ‘delay until another day’ approach simply won’t work,” explains chief marketing officer for Dell Technologies, Jeremy Burton.

“In the near future, almost every business will have software development expertise at its core. Many of these companies will be brand new, others – having not written a line of code in 20 years – will have been on a momentous journey. New digital products and services will drive the transformation of IT infrastructure as businesses struggle to manage 1000x more users and 1000x more data,” says Burton.

Explaining the concept, principal analyst, Futurum Research, Daniel Newman said: “Digital Transformation is the result of blending the power of technology with a rapidly adaptable culture that understands not only what technology can do for its business, but why it is so important in creating the future of the enterprise.” He further noted that every C-Suite leader looking to up their investment in digital transformation needs to understand the threats to their industry and how technology can take their business to the next level to stay competitive.